NEW HOLLAND’S “RED TULIP ALE”

Among the bevy of bountiful delights sent to me from darkest Michigan a couple of months ago was a beckoning bottle of RED TULIP ALE from the NEW HOLLAND BREWING corporation of Holland, MI. If I haven’t said it enough, let it be said once more: Michigan is a craft beer beacon of light, with some of the country’s finest brewers competing for shelf space – Dark Horse, Founder’s, Great Lakes, Bell’s and others. Ring up another one for the “show me” state, home of the Buckeyes! NEW HOLLAND have put together a very interesting amber ale here. Rather than a thin-bodied refresher, you’ve got a fairly dark and deep amber going on here, with tastes of darker fruits to match – plums, prunes, that sort of thing. It’s a cloudy pour, and it tastes a bit on the more dry side, but you won’t mind. A hoppy effervescence adds some points of well, and I like how they’re experimenting just a wee bit with the burgeoning American Amber-slash-red ale form. I’m giving it a 7/10 with all the due respect it deserves.